What Hides Behind This Promise
by Aliecole
Summary: What could be more innocent than a Vulpix, Shinx, Eevee, Poochyena, and Emolga headed off to a festival and all dressed up for the occasion? Certainly nothing even remotely bad could happen on a night like this, especially to a bunch of kids left to travel alone...
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note: This story is typed on a phone, which tends to limit what I can do on here. While Auto Correct is a life saver at some points, it can be my greatest obstacle at others. If you spot anything that looks out of place, it would be a great help to me if you could point it out.^^ Also, comments are greatly appreciated, but please no cursing in the comments!**

"Now remember class, Figy berries will increase your health in a pinch, but they CAN occasionally cause confusion," Mrs. Wagner rambled on while pointing to a berry on a chart. Kiera fidgeted restlessly at her wooden desk. Berry Study was the last class before school let out, today. Mrs. Wagner, a somewhat elderly Breloom, was the teacher of this class and had chosen to review their most recent lesson. Letting out a soft sigh, the Vulpix slowly let her chin rest on her desk. Review was soul-crushingly boring on a normal day. On a day before the greatest festival ever thought of? It was torture.

It wasn't long before Kiera felt a paw quickly poke her side. Turning around, she saw the smiling face of Skiku, a Shinx who was a close friend of hers. "Are you thinking about Legend Fest?" he beamed in a whisper.

Kiera glanced back to see if Mrs. Wagner was paying any attention to them. The Breloom had picked up a Wiki berry and adjusted her glasses, a sign that she was intensely preoccupied with her subject. Deeming it safe to carry on the conversation, she faced the Shinx once again. "Of course I am! Every kid that's even remotely close to the area has got to be thinking about it.

"Ditto," a Poochyena pup interjected as he leaned in.

There was a quick, agitated huff as a purple, sludge-looking pokémon turned to glare at them. "If you want someone's attention, KEEGAN, I suggest you call them by their proper name. And don't talk to me anyways, some of us are TRYING to pay attention."

The Poochyena flicked his ears back angrily. "Chill out, Mauve" Keegan growled. "I wasn't even talking about you."

"Well be quiet anyways," the Ditto snapped. "You're ruining the chances of all the pokémon here who actually have a chance of succeeding at school!" That being said, Mauve turned back around while Keegan grumbled something inaudible, although it was probably something along the insult line.

"So which legendary are you guys going to dress up as, tomorrow?" another whisper joined the earlier conversation. Kiera turned to see that the voice belonged to Nola, an Eevee who was also a close friend.

"Raikou! Raikou! Raikou! Raikoooouuuu!" Shiku excitedly squeaked. Kiera fought back a smirk. Almost everything about the blue lion cub was completely predictable.

"I'm going as Mew!" Nola replied. For a second, Kiera was almost certain she had seen the Eevee's chest swell with pride.

An Emolga suddenly snapped her attention to the Eevee. "Mew?" she echoed. "Why do you want to be that one?" Kiera looked towards the Emolga. Maya was had very recently joined her school, and her town as well for that matter. She was very easy to get along with, and had lots of ideas that were terrifically fun.

"Because it's so adorable and SUPER rare!" Nola gushed. "In fact, is so rare that it's classified as a mythical pokémon!"

"Oh, what a coincidence!" Maya chirped. "I'm going as a mythical pokémon, too!"

"Really? Which one?" Nola inquired with interest.

"Victini!" responded the Emolga. "I've already got the costume!"

"Hey Kiera," Shiku enthusiastically poked the Vulpix once again. "Have you decided which legendary you're going as, yet?"

Kiera shook her head in response. "I don't—"

'BRRRRRIIIIIINNNNGGGGG!' the school bell loudly declared the ending of school. Dozens of young pokémon eagerly snatched up their belongings and whisked out the door with a loud chatter. After slinging a small, light yellow duffel bag around her neck, the Vulpix hurried out the room as well.

Finally! Dappled sunlight shown from the the treetops, and Kiera gratefully received it along with the fresh air. Already, she could see her friends clustered in a group, and the Vulpix quickly trotted over to join them.

Shiku shot a toothy grin as she approached. "I've got a really great idea!" he glowed. "Since you and Keegan haven't picked which legendary you're going as, you two should be Entei and Suicune! The three of us could go as the Legendary Beast Trio! Kiera, you'd be perfect as Entei because your fur's brown and your a fire-type!"

"Yeah, but that leaves ME as being Suicune," Keegan pointed out. "No offense to your brilliant plan and all, but I don't have anything in common with Suicune. Plus, it's just too girly for me."

Shiku frowned thoughtfully at this. "Well, I guess you could be Entei and Kiera could be Suicune," the Shinx mused. "But I really think Kiera would make the best Entei."

Keegan shook his fluffy head. "Honestly, I don't want to go as either of them," the Poochyena confessed. "I've got my heart set on going as one of the dragon legendaries this year."

"Oh...well that's cool, too, I guess," Shiku replied a little glumly.

"I'll still go as Entei!" Kiera quickly interjected. She hated seeing the normally cheerful cub look even a little sad. "We'll just be a duo instead of a trio! That'd still be awesome, right?"

"Yeah..." the Shinx trailed off. "Hey! I saw these really cool masks we could use on the way to school! Do you think your mom would let you buy one?"

"Only if it's not too expensive," Kiera replied.

"No they're cheap–really cheap! Let's go ask our moms if we can buy them!" Without even waiting for an answer, Shiku dashed off, leaving the Vulpix to scramble after him.


	2. Chapter 2

Kiera stared back at her reflection through her bedroom mirror. A red, plastic faceplate covered the majority of her face. A yellow, crown-like crest centered the top of it, and gray piece tapered down from her muzzle. The Vulpix had a gray lumpy blanket billowing down her back with jagged pieces of gray cardboard attached to the cloth. To top it all off, she sported four black bands, one for each leg. She had to admit that she was really glad that she had taken Shiku up on his offer. The mask was completely worth it! Of course, she and her mother had put together the rest of her costume, but the fire fox was still impressed by the outfit.

"Oh my!" a Ninetales exclaimed while entering Kiera's room. "I am honored that such a magnificent legendary would visit my humble home!" she fawned with an exaggerated bow. "To what do I owe the honors?"

"Unlimited desserts will probably be enough," the small, brown fox played along in a meek voice. "I would hate to put too much trouble you."

"Ah, but you won't find that here!"

the Ninetales sighed in fake sadness. "You must be looking for Legend Fest."

"Indeed, I am!" Kiera declared with a toss of her head. "And I must head out at once! My comrades of honor await me."

"Oh?" the yellow-furred fox inquired. "Well, you'd best stay with them, then. It's dangerous to go out alone these days. No offense, Your Highness, but you do seem to be a good deal smaller than most Entei I come across."

"I come of the mini variety, but we're just as capable as the large," Kiera replied in a matter-of-fact tone.

This caused an amused snort from the Ninetales. "Be careful all the same. Legendaries are considered very rare, and some pokémon wouldn't be able to resist snatching up something so valuable." The yellow fox's red eyes furrowed thoughtfully, and it almost looked like she was reconsidering on letting the Vulpix go out unsupervised. Of course, this did not go unnoticed by her child.

"Don't worry! We'll be fine, Mum! LOTS of kids are going by themselves this year! Besides, they do it everyyear, and nothing ever goes wrong!"

Kiera raced down a well-worn path, sending up little puffs of dust. The setting afternoon sun cast red and orange shades across the slowly darkening sky. The Vulpix was only a short distance away from Oak Tree Bend, the place where she was supposed to meet up with her friends. The excitement of anticipation fizzed through her, spreading a tingling sensation that she felt all the way to the tip of her tails.

As she topped a hill, she could see a large oak tree with three forms underneath the shade. Grinning, she pelted downward at full speed. Soon, she skidded to a stop inside of the leaf darkened area. "Hi, guys!" she greeted them almost breathlessly.

"Hey!" Shiku beamed back. "I told you we'd look great!" The Shinx's head adorned a black helmet that covered his ears, forehead, and nose. Two bumps, centered the middle of the mask, and two white knobs crested the top of it. A set of blue whiskers in the shape of an X with a pair of long fangs hanging down covered his muzzle. He also wore a lumpy, purple blanket in the style of a cape.

Kiera turned to Keegan and Maya. "Both of your costumes look really neat, too!" Maya was almost unrecognizable in her apparel. The Emolga was wearing a Victini costume with only her mouth, eyes, and tail showing. Keegan wore a costume as well. The Poochyena was fitted in a Black Kyurem suit, but he was more recognizable since his entire face was sticking out.

"Neat doesn't even begin to cover it," the fluffy canine barked. "Mine is fully AWESOME!"

"Ooooohh" Maya exclaimed, her black eyes shining. "But not as awesome as Nola's!"

Kiera turned around to see what the Emolga was gawking at. "Woah!" the Vulpix gasped. Nola was approaching and looked like an entirely different pokémon! Instead of her normally light-brown color, the Eevee's fur was predominantly white. Her head fur was spiked up even higher than usual and was a light green color. All four of her legs and paws were the same shade of green. A red bandana was tied around her neck with the ends tied loose and big.

"I've never seen a Mew look like THAT before!" Keegan playfully started in. "And aren't they supposed to be...pink?"

Nola rolled her brown eyes. "I changed my mind, Genius."

"How'd you get your fur like that?" Maya breathed.

"Momma dyed it," Nola grinned. "But it comes out in the wash."

Shiku stared down at his own blue paws. "I wish my mom would've dyed my fur yellow," he sighed wistfully. "Oh, and with black stripes, too."

"I always thought that Shaymin were supposed to look like salad hedgehogs," Keegan teased once more.

"I'm obviously Shaymin's sky form, you dork!" Nola scoffed.

"We should be heading off to the festival, don't you think?" Maya asked hopefully. "I want to play the games as soon as they're open! And I want to ride the rides, and win prizes, and jump in the bouncy house, and watch the parade, and stuff myself with sugar, and EVERYTHING!" the Emolga squealed with glee.

Kiera cocked her head. "Is this your first time going to Legend Fest?" she asked the overjoyed Emolga.

"Not exactly..." she drawled. "But I didn't really get to DO that much before. That's why I wanna go so badly this year."

"It's too early for it to start, now. They won't start it until it gets night out," Nola pointed out. "But we could go watch them finish setting it up, and there's some cool decorations we could look at while we wait."

"Well, that's better than nothing!" Maya shrugged. "Let's go right now!" With a jump, the Emolga was off and running down the dirt road. Kiera blinked and charged after the fleeing squirrel. "Wait, we're supposed to stay together!" she called out.

"Teehee, then you'll have to hurry up and catch me!" the Emolga giggled without slowing down. Kiera heard pawsteps echo behind her as her friends raced after the two running pokémon.

A good while later, all four of their tongues were lolling and Maya was still running strong. It was at this point that Keegan decided that he had had enough. Putting on a burst of speed, the Poochyena sped up and tackled the Emolga into the ground.

"Geh off, yuh guishin me!" Maya protested while squirming beneath Keegan's weight.

"Slow...down...then," Keegan panted. "You're makin' us...all tired."

"Fine," Maya grumbled. "Jus' geh offa me."

While the two pokémon picked themselves of the ground, Kiera took the time to take in their surroundings. The path had taken them by a forest with towering trees and thick undergrowth. If the Vulpix really focused in, she could hear various, unidentified noises dwelling within. Then, fallen leaves began to crunch with loud crashing. Kiera jumped back, an uncertain growl forming in her throat. In the corner of her eye, she could see sparks and the snap of electricity that surrounded Shiku's paws. Nola crouched down and lashed her fluffy tail back and forth. Keegan and Maya rigidly stood facing the sound if the noise.

A dark gray paw reached out and pushed back a frond of obstructing greenery, which was soon followed with a surprised grunt. The paws owner turned out to be a dark-blue furred Lucario who stepped out in the open. "You bunch took me by surprise," he chuckled with a deep voice. "Didn't quite expect to see so many legendaries in this place."

"Who are you?" Keegan growled back. For all his brave front, Kiera could still see the glint of nervousness shining in his eyes.

"Name's Rahms" the Lucario stated with his paws slightly raised in a sign of surrender. "And I'd take it very kindly if you would spare me, Kyurem. I'm not looking for any kind of trouble. Just passin through to a festival."

"Legend Fest?" Shiku pipped up. Kiera winced at this, hoping the Shinx wouldn't give much more away.

"I reckon," the Lucario shrugged in a nonchalant manner. "Unless there's some other festival for legendaries going on that I'm not aware of."


	3. Chapter 3

At first, Kiera wasn't entirely convinced that her friends' idea of letting Rahms follow them was a good idea. However, her misgivings melted away as she got more acquainted with the dark-furred Lucario. He was the kind of adult that really knew how to talk to kids instead of talking down to them.

"I hear there's supposed to be a maze this year," Rahms commented.

"Yeah, I'm going to try to beat it," Nola replied. Then, the Eevee pulled down on one of her white ears. "All the bigger kids say it's too hard, though."

"I know you'll do it!" Shiku reassured her, chipper as ever. "You're one of the smartest pokémon that I know! Oh–" the blue lion broke off and stared at something ahead.

Kiera looked up and seen that a massive tree trunk had fallen right in the middle of the path. There was no way that any of them would be able to get over it, so going around was the only option. On the left side, there was a huge ditch with spiky brambles growing within. The right side led into the thick-growing forest undergrowth. Naturally, they decided that the right side would be the better way to take.

Just as they had gotten around the tree trunk, Rahms came up with a suggestion. "You know, there's a good shortcut that runs right through this very forest. Most pokémon don't like using it because it involves trudging through the thick forestry, but I doubt it would be any trouble for the five of you."

This seemed reasonable to the other pokémon, so they willingly consented to the Lucario's plan. The children continued on chattering, almost unaware of the darkening sky. It wasn't long before Rahms spoke up again. "All of you seem to be pretty trustworthy to me," the older pokémon said while stroking his chin thoughtfully. "I suppose I could let you in on a little secret of mine. Of course, you would have to promise not to tell anyone, and I mean no one can EVER find out about it."

This was enough to spark Shiku's interest. "Why?"

"Because, I might lose my job," Rahms answered. The Lucario glanced around cautiously before lowering his voice. "I'm a genuine legendary manager."

"What on earth is that?" Maya snorted. "I've never heard of it."

Rahms chuckled at this. "That's because it's a really secret job. Legendaries are mighty popular, and sometimes the paparazzi can be a little more than even they can stand to bare. That's where I come in. I take care of matters that they would would normally be bombarded with the press. Mostly, I run errands and other small stuff they would need. I also make sure that they get to keep their privacy. Occasionally, it can't be helped that some pokémon find us. When they do, they're usually full of requests and demands. I sort out which one's are actually of any importance."

"So what's your secret, then?" Keegan pestered.

Rahms took another long glance around him before speaking in a whisper. "There are two legendaries hiding out in these woods. I've got connections with them, so I know exactly where they are. Since you've been such good traveling companions, I figure they wouldn't mind too much if I took you all to see them."

"Really? You can do that?" Shiku breathed in wonder.

"But we'll see dozens of legends at the festival," Maya interrupted. "Probably more than you can count."

"Yeah, but we'll have to wait a while before we actually get to see one," Nola argued. "And they won't have much time to talk to us. But this way, we get the chance to meet two of them personally!"

"Yeah, but the games might start before long, and...we might miss something really good if we make a stop," Maya pointed out, clearly not thrilled about the prospect of heading away from the festival.

"We'll have all night to hang out at Legend Fest," Shiku persisted. "Think about it, we'll be the very first ones to see a legendary, tonight! No one else'll be able to say that!"

"I don't see what all the fuss over legendaries is all about," Maya sighed. "They're just regular pokémon."

Kiera blinked and shot the Emolga a look of surprise. She had always been taught that legendaries were powerful, sacred beings of might that deserved uttermost respect. To talk of them as any different would be... simply terrible!

Shiku apparently felt the same way. "How can you say that?!" he gasped. "They're the greatest things ever! They keep the whole entire world in balance!"

"Now, now," Rahms calmly intervened. "Everyone's got a right to their own opinions." The Lucario turned to the Victinti costumed Emolga. "However, I must tell you that you might not get a chance to see these legends in person ever again. It's not a given that every legendary will be at the festival, and the two I know of are particularly rare."

Maya twitched her ears and gazed around at the others. "Well...I guess if you all really want to go, then I'll come, too. But we better not miss anything good!"

"Now, all of you promise not to reveal this to anyone, right?" Rahms asked, deeply staring at each of them. All of them nodded there heads in response. "Excellent," Rahms rubbed his paws together. "Follow me." With the Lucario taking the lead, the children followed after him. No matter how many times they guessed, Rahms wouldn't tell them which legendaries they were going to see, his reason being that it would be much better if it was kept as a "surprise." Curiosity fueled, they barely even noticed the distance they were covering.

Eventually, they reached a spot where the trees grew so close together that their foliage blotted out most of the noon sky. Suddenly, a high-pitched, raspy noise sounded somewhere within the woods. Kiera pricked her ears, briefly wondering if she imagined it. A shadow swiftly darted behind a tree in the distance. The Vulpix's fur pricked as she heard a voice coming from the direction. "Come along, dance with meeeeee! And we'll watch the night drain awaaaaayyyyy..."

"Uh...what was that?" Nola nervously piped up.

"Oh, it's probably just a Gourgeist singing," Rahms gave a careless wave of his paw. "They tend to do that a lot around here. It's nothing to worry about."

Despite the Lucario's words, Kiera was still felt a prickle of unease. Listening to a creepy song sung by a even creepier, possibly deranged pokémon can have that effect. Hearing the final line of the song didn't help much either. "No coming back, soon it's historyyyyyy! And it looks like you're here to staaaaayyyyy..."

"I hear that Gourgeist sing when they're about to eat somebody," whispered Keegan.

"I don't doubt it," Nola shuddered. Kiera didn't either, and was very relieved once they had trudged a far distance away.

It wasn't long before, Shiku tripped across a tree root and tumbled to the ground. He quickly picked himself up and started adjusting his Raikou mask, which had shifted sideways. As Kiera watched the Shinx, she couldn't help but feel that she was forgetting something. She glanced over at Nola and Keegan. The Poochyena and Eevee had stopped walking as well, and were waiting for Shiku to catch up. Still, something wasn't quite right... Finally, it dawned on the Vulpix that someone was no longer with them. "Do you guys know where Maya went?"

The three pokémon glanced at each other. "It's has been a while since I last remember seeing her," Nola started.

"HEY MAYA!" yelled Keegan. The Poochyena cocked his gray and black head, listening for a response. "Well, I guess she's not around here," he finally shrugged.

"What if she got lost somewhere?" Shiku squeaked. "She might get scared all by herself!" Kiera doubted thay was so; the spunky little Emolga didn't seem to be the type that got scared much.

"We'll just have to look for her, then," the Vulpix put in. "We might find her if we backtrack our steps. She couldn't have gone that far."

"I could probably track her down," Keegan offered. "I can sniff out almost anything!"

"We might find her faster if we split up," Nola suggested. "

Rahms shook his head. "No, that wouldn't do to let the rest of you tramp around these woods like that. It's too dangerous."

Kiera snapped her head up at him in shock. He couldn't possibly be suggesting what she thought he was! "But—we can't just leave her behind!"

"I wouldn't dream of doing that!" Rahms quickly assured her. "But splitting up isn't a good idea in this place. I tell you what we're going to do, my legendary friends are just ahead. We'll go up there and ask them to help us find her. They'll find your friend in no time!"

Kiera had to admit that this was a better idea than what she and her friends had conjured up. So once more, they followed close behind the adult, only with more urgency in their steps this time.

"They'll be right past those bushes!" Rahms called while pointing to a clump of tall-growing bushes.

Kiera was the first to reach them, and pushed past the strongly dense greenery, almost losing her blanket in the process. Once she was past the shrubbery, she found herself closed inside a clearing surrounded by a wall of trees and thick undergrowth. After looking up, a startled cry broke free of her throat. A glowing, unnatural, purple force of light coiled between the trunks of two tall, leafless trees. Suspended by its long, black arms, hung an unmoving Darkrai with its head bowed down towards the ground.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

So many questions pulsed through Kiera's mind as the Vulpix backed away from the unconscious Darkrai. Was the dark-type even alive? How did it get up there? Who and why did someone do this? WHAT had the power to do this? Were she and her friends in danger by being here?

She turned to look back at her friends. Shiku's yellow eyes were round with surprise. Keegan's jaw dropped in shock, while Nola stood in a petrified stance. Kiera expected to see her friends' reactions mirrored on Rahms' face or for him to be dark with rage...but the Lucario did neither. He gazed up calmly, the corners of his mouth curling up in the slightest way. 'He's not surprised...because he already knew the Darkrai was like this!'

"Ah, looks like you've brought in a lively bunch this time, Rahms," a voiced cackled amongst the shadows of the trees.

Kiera quickly whipped around to see the purple, ghostly form of a Haunter materialize in front of the Darkrai. "They'll do nicely for my collection," another voice agreed. The fur on Kiera's neck rose as a blue and gold coffin with four black hands lumbered out towards the purple ghost. Once the creature sat up, Kiera saw its red glowing eyes and realized that the coffin was actually a Cofagrigus.

"I demand to know the meaning of all this!" snarled a voice from above. Kiera glanced up to see blazing, blue eyes shoot down a piercing glare full of hatred. So the Darkrai was alive after all, but judging from the pure spite boiling from his face, the Vulpix wasn't quite sure if she should find any comfort in this.

"You're hardly in a position to be demanding anything," the Cofagrigus mockingly retorted. The Darkrai's eyes seethed with contempt as he angrily grinded his teeth together.

"Now Noirus, is that any way to treat a guest?" Rahms asked with an incredulous tone that didn't sound quite sincere. "Especially when he's being so generous in giving us everything we want."

"Giving is not the word I'd use," the Darkrai grated. At that moment, the dark-type's gaze shifted from Rahms to Kiera. He blinked, looking as if he hadn't noticed her presence before. "Really? Your bringing kids into this, now?" he scoffed.

"Of course, they're a necessity," Rahms stated as if if should have been obvious. "We had to have something to counteract all the energy from your dark aura."

The Darkrai's white brow raised. "Mind putting that in terms that actually make any SENSE?" he hissed.

"Oh right," the Lucario sarcastically countered back. "I forgot I was speaking to the simple minded. I'll try dumbing it down for your sake." The Darkrai scowled, but obviously had nothing he felt like saying in response.

"You see, I have discovered the where true power of aura lies," Rahms continued airily. "Not only have I discovered this phenomenal secret, but I've found that one's aura can be absorbed and transferred to a completely different pokémon. As you should be able to imagine, the combined forces of aura doubles the user's own power." The dark-furred Lucario stopped momentarily to look the Darkrai squarely I'm the eye. "Now, your aura is massively powerful, although not surprising, considering the fact that you're a legendary. Combining the power of your aura with mine would maximize my own until I would be near invincible.

The only problem is with your aura is that it's too dark. Absorbing it alone would overpower the force of mine until it took complete control of my mind. Of course, being powerful doesn't do you much good unless you're actually aware of what you're doing. That's why I needed a sufficient amount of light aura to balance it out. And what aura could be lighter than the ones belonging to children?"

"And you say my aura's dark," the Darkrai flatly muttered.

Kiera indecisively glanced between the two pokémon. She wasn't entirely sure what aura was, but what she did know was that she probably needed it.

"On second thought, I think we'll just go look for Maya by ourselves," the Vulpix piped up, trying to keep her fur flat as Rahms' head snapped towards her. Whatever trust she felt towards the Lucario before had dissolved away. Now, all that mattered was getting out of this danger ridden forest. "Um...you look really—busy right now."

"Right!" Nola interjected, catching on. "And it's starting to get late, too."

"Yeah! And...um... We still have to find Maya. So..." Kiera trailed off.

"Oh, no," Rahms asserted. "I told you that my friends would look for her, and that excactly what they're going to do. But I doubt they'll have to look very long–"

"You lost one of them?!" the Haunter screeched. "Why I should–"

"Calm yourself, Sarch," Rahms growled with a hint of annoyance. "Even if you can't find the last one, you'll still have five life forces left to eat. There's no need to overindulge yourself."

It didn't take long for the newest arrivals to realize what this meant. "Y–You want to EAT us?" Shiku yelped. "But– I taste really bad! Like...really horrible, nasty stuff!"

"It's true!" Keegan put in. "I've bitten him a thousand times, and he never once tasted good!"

Loud cackling bellowed out from the Haunter. "I don't care what you're bodies taste like, I just want your life forces. I assure you, they all taste very delicious!"

"But don't worry," Noirus quickly added. "I won't let your bodies go to waste. They'll make perfect decorations once I've mummified them!"

The two ghost-types didn't even leave enough time for the full horror if the situation to sink in. They began to move forward with menacing slowness. Kiera backed away from the psychopaths as much as she possibly could, casting a frantic glance behind her. Rahms was blocking their only way to freedom, and it didn't look like he was planning to get out of their way any time soon...A crazy idea suddenly popped in the Vulpix's head. It would only work if she had the support of all her friends, but she had no time to try to explain it to them. The fire-type could only hope that they get the idea and would follow along.

"EMBER!" the fox yelled as small bursts of flames shot out of her mouth. Rahms snarled in surprise as the fire struck his face. Tiny, golden stars careened into his side a few moment later, the result of Nola's Swift attack. Electricity crackled down the Lucario's legs, and sand was soon hurled into the attacked creature's eyes.

"RUN!" Kiera pelted away, greatly relieved to hear paw steps answering her. Only the tiniest hint of satisfaction tugged at the fire fox. Her surprise attack had worked, and even stunned the Cofagrigus and Haunter as well! They were going to get out of here!

Suddenly, something slender, long, and hard wrapped around her leg, slamming Kiera back into the ground. With a grunt of pain, she turned to see brown tree roots writhing and growing around her at an unnaturally fast rate. Panicked, she released another Ember, trying to reduce this weird plant to cinders. The flames had scarcely left her mouth before more roots entwined down her back and legs. They grew so thickly that she was completely immobile within a few moments, and the nearby yelps told the fox that her friends were trapped as well. Her fire wasn't fast enough to stop this strange growing force that seemed be a living thing. Then, leaves swirled wildly in the air as trees ahead of them leaned in with a creaking groan. The trees' movement didn't cease until they smashed into one other, forming a solid, impassible wall. No...the forest was alive!

"Nicely done, Celebi!"


	5. Chapter 5

A light green, fairy-looking creature descended down from above. Kiera shuddered once she caught a view of its blank, unfocused eyes. Even though the Celebi's gaze was pointed straight at her, it looked like the psychic type wasn't really aware of what it saw at all...almost as if pokémon's sight was stuck somewhere far away from its own body. Was this what it looked like when your aura had been absorbed? Unable to look anymore, she turned to see Rahms muttering curses under his breath as he picked himself off the ground.

"Let us go!" Shiku suddenly yowled. "Our parents are gonna be really mad if you keep us here, and then they'll come and get you!"

Kiera cast a sad glance back at the naïve, little Shinx. She could tell by looking at Shiku that he really believed in what he said—that everything would turn out all right in the end. The costumed electric-type still carried his sense of optimism, even if it didn't make sense to. But the hard truth was that there was no chance of Rahms letting them leave, at least not alive. As for their parents? They wouldn't know to look for their children until it was too late.

"Oh come now," Rahms growled while dusting the dirt from off his chest. "You couldn't possible expect me to let you leave without meeting the second legendary, and you haven't been properly introduced to the first one at that. Besides, this is the hour that the Goirgeist come out to sing. I'm sure that your little friend has already learned what that means, even though it won't do her much good, now."

At first, Kiera didn't understand what the Lucario was getting at. Then, she remembered Keegan's earlier statement of how Gourgeist sang just before eating their prey. "Ar-are you saying that Maya is...DEAD?" Kiera could barely ask. After all this time, the horrific possibility had never crossed her mind.

"No!" Nola protested. "Maya's strong and she's part flying-type. There's no way a Gourgeist would be able to eat her!"

"Oh?" Rahms challenged. "I guess it's just a coincidence that she never turned up after we passed through the Gourgeist territory. Something else must have gotten ahold of her instead."

Oddly, it was at that moment that Kiera noticed something was amiss—the bright, glowing, purple light was no longer shining. Glancing up, the Vulpix saw that the coils had vanished...along with the captive Darkrai. Kiera blinked, and looked down to see if Sarch and Noirus had noticed that their prisoner had escaped, yet. But they couldn't have...for both the Haunter and the Cofagrigus were knocked clean out on the ground. A prickling sense of foreboding lay heavily upon her. If both ghost-type's were unconscious and the Darkrai was now free, then that meant—

"Behold the TRUE power of dark aura!" roared a voice as a bright ball of blue light cascaded into Rahms. The Lucario was blown back with the impact, crashing into the ground with an astonished yelp. Kiera snapped her gaze upward to see the Darkrai hovering above the ground. His jet black claws glowed an eerie shade of light blue, while his white plume fiercely billowed behind him.

"How did you get loose?" Rahms snarled while shakily picking himself up.

"You idiotic fool!" the dark-type glowered. "Did you really think that a puny thread of light is all it takes to hold the Great Keeper of Darkness back? If you carried any amount of insight, you might have seen that I was only toying with the lot of you. The truth is that there is no stopping me. I am LEGENDARY! And you shall fall just like all the others who were beneath me."

"NEVER!" Rahms screeched. A bright, blue Aura Sphere began forming between the Lucario's black paws. The Darkrai's eyes narrowed, and he dodged the sphere with relative ease. Then, the dark legendary's eyes began to blacken and swirl like an ominous whirlpool that threatened to drown anyone who got trapped within its murky depths. Suddenly, a beam of spiraling, dark energy shot out from the Darkrai's eyes and struck Rahms. The Lucario's eyes widened in horror, but this feat lasted for only a tiny second. Soon, the Lucario crumpled to the ground, unable to fight the summons of sleep any longer. Seizing its chance, the Darkrai's eyes flashed a bright, red color. A ghostly, transparent Darkrai emerged from out of the original pokémon, and then entered the sleeping Lucario. At first, Rahms wildly thrashed and twitched about. However, Dream Eaters effect soon had its toll as the Lucario's struggles gradually weakened until he lay unmoving.

Strangely, Kiera found this process to be uncomfortable and somehow painful to watch. Although, she was a bit surprised that the Celebi hadn't yet come to the dual-type's aide. She decided to risk a peek up at it. The Celebi's eyes still held the same blank, unfocused look as before; only this time, they were squinted in pain. The mythical pokémon's light-green hands were tightly clutching its head, the most probable source of pain. If the Celebi was feeling this much pain, the Vulpix concluded that she might be able to successfully burn down the tree roots this time. She didn't have much time to ponder on this because of an outburst from Keegan.

"Whew, that was close!" the Poochyena loudly exclaimed. "Thanks for saving us and stuff!"

"Hmph," the Darkrai contemptuously grunted. "I'm not saving any of you. Although, it doesn't surprise me that you would think that way, Keegan."

Keegan blinked and shot the Darkrai a confused look. "Wait...how'd you know my name?"


	6. Chapter 6

"Well, it's only logical that I know your name," the Darkrai replied. "After all, I attend the same school as all of you."

Kiera shared a confused glance among her friends. She didn't know HOW this Darkrai knew Keegan's name, but she did know that their school did not have a pokémon that looked even remotely close to a nightmare ghost attending it.

"Look," the Kyurem-costumed Poochyena started. "I'm pretty sure you've got me confused with another Keegan. I promise you that I've never once seen you before in my whole, entire life."

"Oh really?" the Darkrai countered. "I suppose that next you'll be telling me that I don't know who Nola, Kiera, and Shiku are, either."

Kiera's skin began to prickle. She was certain that she had never seen this pokémon before. Yet, he knew all of their names, and none of them had even mentioned theirs. Had he been stalking them? Or had he read their minds? The Vulpix wasn't sure of either theories, but tried keeping her mind clear just in case.

"Still don't recognize me, eh?" the Darkrai smirked. "Then why don't I show you my good side?" With a crackle of glowing, white energy, the Darkrai's body began to change shape before their eyes. The Pokémon's features gradually became smaller, more flexible, and rounded until all that was left was a purple blob sitting before them. It was at that moment that they realized they knew exactly who this pokémon was after all.

"MAUVE?!" Kiera found herself exclaiming along with her other friends. The Vulpix could scarcely believe that the powerful, supposedly legendary pokémon was actually a little Ditto in disguise. It didn't even make much sense that Mauve had beaten full-fledged adults with such little effort. The Ditto had never seemed very strong in school, in fact, he seemed to lean more in the opposite direction.

"Judging by your stunned expressions," Mauve spoke in a voice that sounded more young and high-pitched. "I'd say that my transformations are the closest they can be to perfection, which means I'll be taking over this town, soon."

"Taking over the town?" Shiku echoed. "What are you talking about?"

"It's actually pretty simple, really," Mauve began. "Just like so many others, I want power. Power brings everything. Power is the only thing that fulfills. Power is life! In order to gain such power, I'm going to start small by taking control of this town. To do this, I'm going to start picking off all who would oppose me, beginning from the weakest up to the strongest. Once I've defeated enough pokémon, the rest will have no choice but to follow me. From there, I can take over even more weaker towns and build them up until I have accomplished a successful empire. The weaklings will be trained into a mighty fighting force loyal to me, and me only. They will be trained until they are an unbeatable army, invincible to even the legendaries. Then, I will finally be on top!"

"But you're just a kid!" Nola protested. "There's no way you'd ever be that powerful!"

"Yeah!" Keegan barked. "The adults will easily stop you!" Kiera had an inkling that this wasn't true as she glanced at the three unconscious pokémon ahead. Hadn't Mauve already proved what he was capable of? If he could transform into any pokémon, he could just change back into a legendary and wipe out anyone trying to stop him. But maybe if someone attacked him in his true form...

"I am no mere child," Mauve glowered. "I am far older than any of you, possibly even older than some your parents."

"You may talk like a grown-up, but you sure don't sound like one," Shiku pointed out.

"My voice had always been like this," Mauve retorted. "It's never changed, but it works to my own advantage. I've been able to use the little kid act more than a few times."

"But why do it?" Nola interrupted. "Why act like a kid this whole time when you could have been doing your whole evil plot thing or whatever?"

"Oh, but I have," Mauve smirked. "I've been studying–closely watching every pokémon I come across. I know just about everything there is to know about each of the pokémon living in this town. I know their strong points...their weaknesses...the ones I will use and the ones that I'll get rid of. I can learn so much more than the average Joe, simply because kids can get away with more than most realize."

"We won't let you get away this!" Shiku growled. "Once we get to Legend Fest, we tell all the legendaries what you're up to, and they'll stop you for sure!"

"Oh no!" Mauve mockingly gasped. "You're going to TELL on me? Not the ultimate, little kid punishment! Anything but that! What will I ever do? Oh wait...I can just get rid of you all, right now. That would be simple enough. Now tell me, do have any preferences on how you want to die?"

"Stall him!" Kiera hissed to Nola. The Eevee looked at her with a confused expression, but nodded in response.

"Ok," she addressed the Ditto. "Tell us what all our options are."

Kiera didn't allow herself listen to the rest of the conversation. The Vulpix kept her entire concentration on the tiny flame flickering from her mouth. She had to keep the fire really small and quiet so it wouldn't get Mauve's attention. It burned with teasing slowness, and it looked like the roots would never burn through. However, the roots had gradually crumpled enough to where she could break free from them. Kiera looked up to see if she was in good firing range of Mauve. Right at that moment, the Ditto's gaze turned to her own.

Kiera growled as she aimed an Ember attack at the purple pokémon. The fire founds its mark, but not before the Ditto's body began glowing in a bright, white shade. Once more, the now familiar shape of a Darkrai appeared before them. Blue eyes angrily narrowed, Mauve swiftly floated up until he hovered a good distance above them.

"I think a quick end is what suites the lot of you best," he scowled. Ominous, dark, pulsating energy began forming along his long, black arms. The crackle of the energy intensified as the transformed Ditto raised his arms high above his head. Kiera watched with her mouth agape as the dark force began growing with a great swirling motion.

A deep, raging roar suddenly erupted from somewhere in the sky. The volume of the outburst was so loud that the ground shook with the sheer volume of the sound. Kiera shrank down as a huge, hulking beast swooped past. The creature made a turn-around before letting out another fearsome bellowing. By now, Mauve had stopped the attack and slowly hovered down in uncertainly. With giant, red and black, hand-like wings, the monstrous being flapped above them.

"HOW DARE YOU IMPERSONATE ON OF MY CLOSEST COLLEAGUES?!" boomed the obviously enraged beast. Kiera took in the sight of the creature's whispy, gray ruff, cruel-looking talons, and the long tail that shared resemblance to the hand-like appearance of its arms. The name of this pokémon suddenly entered the Vulpix's mind. Yveltal!


	7. Chapter 7

**Sorry for the long, unexpected delay, guys.^^' After this chapter, there's only one more to go until this fic's completed. Hopefully, I can finish it in a more timely matter.**

"You are Yveltal," Mauve observed. The transformed pokémon seemed to be more relaxed at this point, as if simply knowing what the beast was had calmed him.

"AND YOU ARE A FRAUD!" burst the angry dragon-bird. Kiera was sure that she would have at least flinched from such an outburst, but Mauve seemed unfazed.

"Yes, but I fail to see how this concerns you," Mauve pointedly returned.

"FAIL TO SEE?" the Yveltal screeched. "YOU FAIL SEE? YOU SPEW MOCKERY AT THE MIGHT OF LEGENDARIES AND YOU DEGRADE THE REPUTATION OF ONE OF MY ASSOCIATES WITH THIS ABSURD PLAN, AND YOU FAIL TO SEE?!"

"You legendaries take yourselves too seriously," Mauve retorted.

"YOU FOOL!"boomed the Yveltal. "I SHOULD OBLITERATE YOU INTO A THOUSAND PIECES!"

Mauve raised a brow. "But you can't do that, now can you?" he challenged. "You must know that I can transform into any pokémon I want. What's to stop me from bashing you with Xerneas? Or frying you with Zekrom? Maybe I'll settle for crushing you with Arceus."

"You may be able to look like another," the Yveltal hissed in a voice that was eerily quite. "And you know a few fancy moves, but you're an idiot if you think that's enough to make you invincible to a legendary. Can you widen the seas or expand the land? Can you grant any wish or control time and space? Can you turn other pokémon to stone at your very whim?"

"I don't need any of those impressive, little tricks as a power crutch," Mauve scoffed. "All I need is whit and planning."

The red and black draconian flapped soundlessly, it's light blue eyes glittering maliciously. "But can that save you from banishment?" The Yveltal continued before Mauve could answer, "You've proved that you don't deserve to live here. You don't deserve to live anywhere amongst other pokémon, so I'm banishing you to a place known as the Voidlands until I see it fit to release you, if I ever do."

"WHAT?" was all Mauve could muster, a trace of fear evident in his voice.

"I SAID I'm sending you to the Voidlands," the Yveltal returned in an impatient voice. "It's dark, depressing, and infested with shadows trying to suffocate you, just like your personality."

Before Mauve had time to react, the Yveltal rammed into the pokémon, sending him hurling into a swirling, purple mass that had just appeared. With a shocked screech, he was sucked into the void and was gone.

Kiera blinked in astonishment before standing rigidly still. The Vulpix hoped that the Yveltal hadn't noticed the rest of them yet, and she had learned her lesson about assuming someone was trying to save your tail. However, the legendary wasn't paying them any heed. Instead, it looked like the avian was breaking out into a fit or something. The red and black body was jerking and shuddering wildly, but if you looked close enough it almost looked like...

A volley of high-pitched, strangely familiar giggles suddenly burst from the Yveltal. The laughter sounded like it came from a little, female pokémon, and certainly NOT from a giant beast that could summon swirling vortexes. A white glow suddenly engulfed the Yveltal, accompanied with the sound of crackling energy. The light gradually became more intense until the brightness completely drowned out the sight of anything else.

The light was beginning to hurt Kiera's eyes, so the Vulpix quickly closed them against the harsh glare. However, the light soon faded shortly after. Once Kiera had opened her eyes again, she saw that a tiny, light-pink furred, kittenish thing was levitating in the place of the Yveltal. "Teehee! I got him real good! Right guys?" chortled the creature.

A particularly loud gasp came from Nola's direction. "Oh my...I don't believe...it's a...it's...IT'S A MEW!" the excited Eevee finally managed to squeal.

The Mew cocked her head and scrunched up her face in confusion. "Huh?" she said in a curious tone while looking down at her small pink paws. The psychic pokémon snapped her fingers while letting out an angry huff. "Rats, got the wrong one," she grumbled. Once more, the Mew began glowing in bright, white light, although it was not as intense this time around. When the light faded again, it revealed an all-too-familiar Emolga who glided down to the ground.

"MAYA?!" Kiera exclaimed in disbelief.

"The one and only," the Emolga replied with a wink.

"But the Gourgeist!" Shiku interjected. "They ate–well, we thought they ate you!"

"Pfft, they wish!" Maya snorted. "I gave them a pretty good smack-down before I left, though."

"Wait a sec," Keegan interrupted. "You've been a Mew this WHOLE time?"

"Yep!" Maya cheerfully answered. "Pretty good disguise, eh?"

"But...why?" Nola queried in a confused tone. "I mean...why'd you pretend to be an Emolga this whole time?"

Maya scratched the back of her black-furred head before responding. "Because I wanted to see what it's like to be a normal pokémon. I wanted to see what school was like and what regular kids do for fun. Things are just...different when you're a legendary."

A pained groan suddenly interrupted the conversation. Kiera turned to see the Celebi still clutching its head as it sat on the ground. "My head..." it murmured. "What happened?" Truth being told, Kiera had completely forgotten about the Celebi until this moment.

"You were being mind controlled," Keegan stated in a tone that indicated he felt that it should have been obvious.

"I-I was?" the Celebi asked in disbelief. The light-green psychic type glanced to the side, her blue eyes suddenly widening. "What are they–we have to get out of here! They're dangerous!"

Kiera turned to see that the Celebi was looking at the three unconscious forms of Rahms, Noirus, and Sarch lying on the ground. They looked like they would be knocked out for awhile, but the Vulpix still felt a trickle of unease.

"Don't worry!" Maya interjected. "I was just about to take care of those creeps, and I think these three will make good company for our dear ole Ditto friend." With a flash of white light, the little pokémon was a Mew once more. Within a few moments, Maya had teleported the unconscious pokémon with a speed that Kiera could barely believe was possible. "There," she announced in a satisfied tone, "we don't have to worry about them anymore!"

"Hey!" Keegan gruffly barked. "You could've done that right from the start and saved us all this trouble!"

"Yes, but that wouldn't have been as much fun, now would it?" Maya playfully grinned.

"Wait a sec..." Nola trailed off in thought. "If Mauve can turn into any pokémon he wants to...then what's to stop him from turning into a psychic pokémon and teleporting back here?"

For a split second, a prickling sense of panic flared through Kiera. She had thought this horrible ordeal was finally over, and the thought of going through it all again was almost to much to handle.

"Relax," Maya calmly responded. "Didn't I say not to worry? Anyways, I sent them to the Rim of Auldera. You can use Teleport to get into it, but you can't use it to get out of there. So yeah, they're basically stuck there unless I let them out."

"Don't," the Celebi growled. Kierra turned to see the mythical pokémon glaring down at the ground. "Don't let them out, I mean. They deserve to rot there."

"Uh...okay," Maya responded with a dubious look at the Celebi. "You know, you're really not looking all that great. Are you alright?"

"I'm fine," the Celebi persisted. "It's just a headache. It'll probably be gone once I'm home, which is where I'm heading now, unless I'm needed here?"

Maya shook her pink head. "Nope, I think we're all good."

With a nod, the Celebi flew up and quickly disappeared within the protection of the thick forestry.

"Well, I think that just about covers it," Maya concluded. "Just give me a sec to grab my costume and I'll have us teleported to Legend Fest in no time!"

Keegan cocked his head with a wry expression. "Can't you just go as yourself?"

"No way!" Maya strongly replied. "Every time I've gone, it's always been the same thing. Do this and fix that! I have to listen to everything people tell me and I NEVER get to do anything. When everyone know's you're a legendary it's no fun at ALL! Oh wait– I think I left my costume over there!" Before anyone else could get a word in, the Mew was off gliding above the tree tops.

After watching her for a while, Kiera noticed Shiku fidgeting in the corner of her vision. "Hey Kiera," he called. "Would you mind freeing the rest of us?"

The Vulpix turned to see her friends still wound up in the brown, tree roots. In all the chaos, she had forgotten that they were still tied up. "Oh...right. I'll do that," she sheepishly grinned.


	8. Chapter 8

Kiera flopped down onto the red covering of her bed with a tired sigh. She had already dropped her Entei attire in a cluttered heap on the wooden floor. Legend Fest had completely zapped all of her energy...of course the afternoon's previous events might have contributed to this as well. But right now, she was too tired to dwell on this afternoon's memories. Instead, the Vulpix closed her eyes and allowed the bliss of sleep to gradually enfold her into a state of unawareness.

A few hours later, Kiera was awoken by a humid, uncomfortably hot feeling, a problem not uncommon to fire-types like herself. Instinctively, she reached out with a paw and yanked away the blankets that were smothering her with their warmth. Although this helped a little, her room was still too stuffy for sleeping comforts. Blearily opening her eyes, Kiera slid from the bed and went over to open her window to let some night air in. As she pulled the round, wooden-rimmed window pane back, she was met with cold, nipping breeze. The Vulpix shook her head as she trudged back to her sleeping place. She didn't see how it could be so hot in her room while it was such a cool night outside, but the wind would take care of the problem, now.

An odd feeling struck her, as she looked at her messy, unmade bed. She didn't exactly remember unmaking it, or even pulling the covers back for that matter. Shrugging it off, she hopped back onto her bed. She usually didn't remember most things that she had done before going to sleep. Why should this time be any different?

With a sigh, she settled back down and closed her eyes. After a little while, she noticed that the room was not getting any cooler like it should have. In fact, it actually seemed to be growing hotter. Opening her eyes again, she turned to see if the window had been blown shut.

A blur of movement that vanished as soon as Kiera glanced at the window made the her jump with a prickling feeling in her skin. After rigidly staring at the window for a few moments, the Vulpix relaxed a bit. "Calm down, Kiera," she tried to reassure herself. "It was probably just a Hoothoot or something." Still, she couldn't quite bring herself to go over and close the window, so the fire fox opted that turning away from the direction of the window would be her best option.

The Vulpix stayed in that position until curiosity finally won and she took a peek backwards. A pair of glowing, golden-yellow eyes peered back from just outside the window. With a frightened yelp, Kiera dove under the blankets, suddenly not caring about how hot it would be underneath. She waited to hear the noise of heavy thumps and growls of some hideous monster intent on gobbling up whoever it came across. However, the sound that she heard was not loud, but was the muffled sound of several, quiet whispers. Pale lavender light started to shine through the blankets, lightening up Kiera's space beneath. Cautiously, the fox raised the blankets up a crack and looked up.

Hovering near the ceiling were clusters of Lampent and Chandelure, all of them conversing in the same hushed tone. The sight of their flickering, lilac flames swaying in the dark was actually a little...pretty, which is what caused the Vulpix to venture out from the blankets. Eventually, Kiera managed to catch one of the Chandelure's eyes, and she could have sworn that they were the same golden pair from before.

"Wh-what are you doing here?" Kierra flustered.

"Oh, don't worry about us, my dear," the Chandelure replied in a raspy voice. "We won't be staying very long, just long enough to see who gets your spirit."

"My spirit?!" Kiera choked out.

"Yes, we need it to fuel our fire," the Chandelure further explained. "They're getting quite low, see?" The ghost pokémon waved its black arms in demonstration. "It's been so terribly long since we've last consumed any spirits that we can't even remember who gets first dibs this time."

Kiera slowly backed up as far as her bed would allow. "You–you're not getting mine!" she growled in a voice that she hoped sounded confident.

"Oh, poor soul," the Chandulure said in a tone that was oddly sympathetic. "You think it's going to hurt, don't you? Don't worry, our fire causes no physical pain. In fact, you won't ever have to feel any pain ever again after tonight! Won't that be nice?"

"NO!" Kiera protested. "I'm not letting you have mine!"

"Aww...it's cute that you think you have a choice," the Chandelure crooned. "But I'm afraid that this matter isn't in your paws."

WIthout warning, half of Kiera's bed violently lurched upwards. The Vulpix let out a terrified scream as she started sliding down along with her mattress. She desperately pushed upwards and managed to grasp one of the wooden bed posts with her front paws. After digging her tiny claws as far into the wood as they would go, the fire-type pulled herself up as high as she possibly could. With each of her six tails tightly wrapped around the post, she looked down to see a purple, swirling mass of fire at the foot of the bed. Already half of her mattress had been completely consumed with not even as much as a speck of ash left in its wake.

This hideous fire was like nothing Kiera had ever seen. It's intense heat was hurting her face from here, and she was positive that not even Flash Fire could save her from these flames that licked up everything near them.

A sickening, cracking noise sounded beside Kiera's ear. She turned to see the wooden post deteriorating right before her eyes. Before she had time to react, the base of the post snapped. "NO!" Kiera yelled as she fell down towards the fire. Instinctively, she closed her eyes in an attempt to shield them from being scorched.

Then just like that, it was all gone. No heat. No falling. No whispering. Was this what it felt like to die? Scared of what she might see, Kiera opened her eyes.

The Vulpix found herself lying on her bed—her neat and already made-up bed. Hardly daring to believe it, she glanced around her room. The round window was closed, and the room wasn't even hot. There were no pokémon floating in the air. The bedpost wasn't rotting. Even her Entei costume was still in its same place on the floor. Everything was in its proper order. "Than that means...it was all...a nightmare!" Kiera sighed with relief.

She cast one last glance at the window, and froze at what she saw. The night's moonlight shown from outside and illuminated two sheets of paper that were lying on the ground. Paper that was not there before she went to sleep. The fur on Kiera's neck rose as she struggled to calm herself. It was just paper...paper never hurt anyone...right?

The Vulpix slowly made her way over, casting a few cautious looks at the window. The closest piece was browning with age and crinkled a bit as she picked it up. Intricately fancy, cursive handwriting centered the page. Kiera wasn't used to seeing this style of writing, so it wasn't before a little difficulty when she finally was able to decipher that it read: "Pleasant dreams, compliments of the REAL Great Keeper of Darkness."

Kiera was on the verge of being sent into a panic before the second sheet of paper caught her attention. It was not only in a much newer condition , but was scrawled over with slightly-on-the-sloppy-side, familiar, print writing which read:

"Heyo, Kiera! Sorry 'bout the dream. I kinda lost a bet to a Darkrai. Heh heh...please don't be mad at me! Anywho, Legend Fest was really FUN! I wanna go with you guys again, next year! Oh look! I'm running out of paper to write on, so I guess this is–"

THE END

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Thank you so much for taking the time to read "What Hides Behind This Promise! Even bigger thanks goes to those who favorited or followed! I hope you enjoyed reading this fic as much as I did in creating it! If any of you readers have any feedback to send, I would LOVE to hear it! :D Also, stay safe and watch out for Dittos.


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